News Release

World's Top Urological Specialists Meet In San Diego To Hear Latest Scientific Information On Genitourinary Disease

Meeting Announcement

American Urological Association

More than 1,800 original research studies aimed at preventing, diagnosing, and treating adult and childhood diseases of the kidney, urethra, and genitals, plus dozens of state-of-the-art educational presentations, will highlight the 93rd Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association at the San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, California, May 30 - June 4, 1998.

As part of the expected overall attendance of 14,000, more than 7,500 urologists, other physicians, biomedical researchers, and healthcare professionals will participate in the world's largest and most comprehensive urologic educational and scientific forum. These individuals will attend plenary sessions, lectures, panel discussions, point/counterpoint debates, poster and podium sessions, video presentations, and instructional courses. General topic areas to be featured include prostate cancer, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) or enlarged prostate, erectile dysfunction (impotence), urinary tract infection, urinary incontinence, kidney stone disease, infertility, bladder cancer, and kidney cancer.

Some of the important original research findings to be presented at the meeting include:

  • In a study involving 909 African American men and 2,131 white males, each man received a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test and a digital rectal exam or negative prostate biopsy. None had known prostate cancer. PSA levels in African American men was shown to rise significantly at age 50, compared to whites, and continue to escalate considerably as the men aged.

  • In double-blind, placebo-controlled research that involved over 3,100 men with severe erectile dysfunction, 46% of those on oral sildenafil had much higher score for sexual penetration and for maintaining an erection than they had at the beginning of the study.

  • Fifteen years after diagnosis, cancer mortality was dramatically affected by biopsy grade at diagnosis for men with localized prostate cancer which had been treated conservatively with hormone therapy. Men with lower grade tumors encountered a modest risk of death while those with high scores faced significant risk.

  • After testing 492 men in various age brackets ranging from 40 to 73, researchers concluded that, at the same PSA level, older men are more likely to have extensive prostate cancer than younger men. However, the investigators did not advocate setting higher PSA thresholds for older men because such a change might compromise the cure rate.

  • Working with beagle dogs, medical scientists have reconstructed a bladder from a biodegradable polymer that delivered regenerated cells from the interior lining of the dog's original bladder. They believe that their tissue engineering can create a functional, anatomically normal bladder for replacement or augmentation.

In addition to multiple presentations based on original research, meeting registrants will hear dozens of state-of-the-art lectures, special seminars, and panel discussions on a variety of important urological topics. A feature of the meeting involves Point/Counterpoint debates on special topics by two experts with opposing urologic views.

Following are some convention highlights:

Sunday, May 31

  • Dr. C. Everett Koop, former Surgeon General of the United States, will present the John Duckett Memorial Lecture on the "Doctor-Patient Relationship in the 21st Century."

  • A panel discussion on the "Child Who Wets" will feature Dr. David Bloom of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Dr. Stephen Koff of Columbus, Ohio; and Dr. Richardo Gonzalez of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

  • A State-of-the-Art Lecture entitled "Pediatrics: Tissue Engineering: Short and Long- Term Follow-up After Urinary Tract Reconstruction" will be given by Dr. Anthony Atala of Boston Children's Hospital.

  • Dr. H. Logan Holtgrewe of Annapolis, Maryland, will present a lecture entitled "Will You Be Guilty of Medicare Fraud?"

  • A State-of-the-Art Lecture entitled "Diversion: Neobladder in the Female" will be offered by Dr. Ella Skinner of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

  • Dr. Carl Olsson of New York, New York, will deliver a State-of-the-Art Lecture on "Urinary Diversion: Complications and Long-Term Impact."

  • A Point/Counterpoint debate on "AUA Guidelines for Incontinence versus AHCPR Guidelines for Incontinence" will be held between Dr. David Staskin of Boston, Massachusetts, and Dr. Gary E. Leach of Kaiser Permanente, Los Angeles, California.

  • The European Association of Urology Lecture entitled "Continence After Radical Prostatectomy" will be given by Professor Laurent Boccon Gibod of Paris, France.

Monday, June 1

  • A panel discussion on "Non-Surgical Management of Stress Incontinence in Females" will feature Dr. Mitchell Benson and Jerry Blaivas of New York, New York; Dr. David Barrett of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota; Dr. Roger Hadley of Loma Linda University Medical Center, Loma Linda, California; Dr. Deborah Lightner of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota; Dr. Victor Nitti of New York University, New York, New York; and Dr. Phillipe Zimmern of the University of Texas Southwestern School of Medicine, Dallas, Texas.

  • A State-of-the-Art Lecture entitled "Genome Project" will be given by Dr. Leroy Hood of the University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle.

  • A Point/Counterpoint debate on "Should We Screen for Prostate Cancer?" will feature a representative from the Task Force of Preventive Medicine versus the AUA debaters Dr. Steven H. Woolf of the Medical College of Virginia-Virginia Commonwealth University, and Dr. David P. Wood of Harper Hospital, Detroit, Michigan.

  • Dr. Andrew Novick of Cleveland, Ohio, will present a State-of-the-Art Lecture on "Atherosclerotic Ischemia Renal Disease Implications."

  • A State-of-the-Art Lecture entitled "Gene Therapy of Genitourinary Malignancies" will be given by Dr. Fray F. Marshall of Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland.

  • A Point/Counterpoint debate on "Aggressive versus Non-Aggressive Management of T2 Bladder Cancer" will be given by Dr. Richard D. Williams of the University of Iowa Hospital, Iowa City, and by Dr. Donald Skinner of the University of Southern California Norris Cancer Center, Los Angeles, California.

  • A State-of-the-Art Lecture will be presented by Dr. William Steers of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, on "Urological Evaluation and Treatment of Patients with Neurological Disorders--Parkinson's Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, and Spinal Cord Injury."

Tuesday, June 2

  • Dr. John McConnell of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, Texas, will present a State-of-the-Art Lecture on "Alpha Blockers and Selectivity and Does It Matter in BPH?"

  • Dr. James Montie of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, will offer the John K. Lattimer Lecture entitled "Bladder Cancer: Intravesical Chemotherapy-Immunotherapy."

  • Five panelists will offer a discussion on "Diagnostic Evaluation of Erectile Dysfunction: What is Reasonable?", including Dr. Irwin Goldstein of Presbyterian University Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Dr. Tom Lue of the University of California, San Francisco; Dr. Arnold Melman of Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York; Dr. Drago K. Montague of Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio; and Dr. Alvaro Morales of Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

  • A panel discussion entitled "Prostate Cancer: Quandaries and Conundrums" will be given by Dr. Peter Albertsen of the University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut; Dr. William Catalona of Washington University Medical School, St. Louis, Missouri; Dr. William R. Fair of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York; Dr. Gerald Hanks of the Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia; and Dr. Patrick Walsh of Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland.

  • Four panelists will explore the topic "Emerging Technologies in BPH: Microwaves, TUNA, HIFU," including Dr. Michael Blute of Rochester, Minnesota; Dr. Michael Manyak of George Washington University, Washington, DC; Dr. Aaron Perlmutter of New York Hospital, New York, New York; and Dr. Lorne Sullivan of the University of British Columbia, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

  • A Point/Counterpoint debate will feature the topic "Prostate Cancer: Radical and Hormonal Therapy versus Radiation and Hormonal Therapy," with debaters Dr. Gerald Hanks of the Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, and Dr. Horst Zincke of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.

Wednesday, June 3

  • "When to Treat Male Infertility versus When to Direct the Patient to In-Vitro Fertilization" is the subject of a Point/Counterpoint debate featuring Dr. Robert Oates of Boston, Massachusetts and Dr. Peter Schlegel of the New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center, New York, New York.

  • The Ramon Guiteras Lecture will feature Dr. John Kerr of Seminole, Florida, who will present "Apoptosis: The Cell Death We Need to Have."

  • Dr. Roy Correa, Jr., of Seattle, Washington, President of the AUA, will present the Presidential Address entitled "The Domain of Urology: Preparing for the 21st Century."

  • A State-of-the-Art Lecture by Dr. John Blasko of the University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle will focus on "Prostate Cancer: Long-Term Results of Brachytherapy."

  • Dr. Marshall Stoller of the University of California, San Francisco, will present a State- of-the-Art Lecture entitled "Infection Stone Disease."

Thursday, June 4

The final morning will be devoted to a series of "Take Home" messages by recognized authorities. These experts will summarize the total material presented during the meeting in various topic areas focusing on issues critical to the practicing urologist. Highlights include:

  • Urodynamics and Incontinence by Dr. Phillipe Zimmern of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas.

  • Infection by Dr. Anthony Schaeffer of Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois.

  • Pediatrics by Dr. George W. Kaplan of San Diego, California.

  • Infertility by Dr. Marc Goldstein of New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center, New York, New York.

  • Basic Science by Dr. Donal Coffey of Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland.

  • BPH by Dr. E. Darracott Vaughan, Jr., of New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center, New York, New York.

  • Stone Disease by Dr. Joseph Segura of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.

  • Transplantation and Vascular by Dr. Kenneth Kropp of the Medical College of Ohio, Toledo.

  • Kidney Cancer by Dr. Neil Bander of New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center, New York, New York.

  • Penile and Testicular Cancer by Dr. Jerome P. Richie of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.

  • Prostate Cancer - Localized by Dr. William Catalona of Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.

  • Prostate Cancer - Advanced by Dr. Joseph Smith, Jr., of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee.

  • Trauma and Reconstruction by Dr. Gerald Jordon of Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, Virginia.

  • Impotence by Dr. Thomas Lue of the University of California, San Francisco.

  • New Technology by Dr. Ralph Clayman of Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.

  • Laparoscopy/Endourology by Dr. Arthur M. Smith of Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia. (There are two Arthur Smith's in AUA and this is a guess between the two--no middle initial listed.)

  • Bladder Cancer by Dr. Donald Lamm of West Virginia University Health Science Center, Morgantown.

###



Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.